Pet food recall information

On September 12, 2008, Mars Petcare announced a voluntary pet food recall on dog and cat food products manufactured at its facility in Everson, Pennsylvania, due to potential contamination by Salmonella Schwarzengrund.

This recall affects dry food produced under the Pedigree and Ol’ Roy brand names, as well as several others. As Mars Petcare produces food at multiple facilities across the country, only a small portion of their inventory–just 2.7% of total Pedigree production, for example–is affected by this recall. See complete list of affected brands.

If you feed your pets any of products affected by this pet food recall, check the packaging for the following information:

For Pedigree, consumers should look for “PAE” on the bottom line of the code date–the sixth, seventh, and eighth digits. Sample:PEDIGREE Small Crunchy BitesBest Before 02/2009808G1PAE01 12:00

For other brands, look for “17” as the first two digits of the second line of the code date. Sample:Best By Feb 18 0917 1445 1

If you find either of these codes on your product packaging, stop feeding it to your pet and return the item(s) to the store where you bought it for a full refund.

While no animals have been reported sick due to Salmonella Schwarzengrund contamination, if you have fed your pet any of the affected products, be on the lookout for lethargy, diarrhea, fever, and vomiting, as they are all possible signs of infection. (Animals can also carry the bacteria without showing symptoms and infect other animals and humans, especially children, the elderly, and people with comprised immune systems.)

After Mars Petcare discovered two people affected by Salmonella Schwarzengrund at its Everson facility on July 29, it halted production of all pet food products. The company does not plan to resume production at that facility until the source of the Salmonella is identified.

“Our top priority has always been and continues to be the health and welfare of pets and their owners,” said Catherine Woteki, global director of scientific affairs, Mars, Inc. “At Mars, we hold ourselves to the highest quality standards.”

For more information about the Mars Petcare food recall, call 1-877-568-4463 or visit www.petcare.mars.com.